Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Cause for Paws Revamped!

I have been working with Cause for Paws to give them more control over their website, but to keep their current design. We gave them control over everything they needed plus added a system for them to monitor volunteers, memberships, and gift memberships.

Also I set up for them a calendar and RSVP for events.

Cause for Paws, Inc. is committed to ensuring the well being of all cats and dogs, reducing pet overpopulation, building a strong base of animal advocates and supporting the Hutchinson Animal Shelter. (Cause for Paws)

Cause for Paws has been instrumental in several projects for Hutchinsons Dogs and Cats. Such as the programs of Stop The Overpopulation of Pets, Meals on Wheels, Precious Paws, and the Rescue Transports, and in the special events of the Salty Dawg Festival and Dogs' Day at the Splash and in the Creation of the Dog Park.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Introducing Category Search for the Hutch News Event Calendar

We have just introduced a new feature into the Hutch News Calendar. We added the ability to search and link to specific category listing. This feature makes it easier to go in and find specific events you’re interested in. If you’re interested in just seeing Art, then just select that category. Same goes with any other category, this new function makes searching the Calendar much simpler. Check out Todays events for all the categories.


Art

Car Show
Church and Religion

Classes and Workshops

Dance

Festivals and Celebrations

Food and Drink

Fundraiser

Kids and Families
Meetings and Lectures

Misc.

Movies

Music and Concerts

School

Sports

Support Groups

Theater

Volunteer


Another feature we added was the ability to limit selection to being “In Hutch.” Once you select a category you can limit it down even further by clicking on the “In Hutch” Link in the top right of the page.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Not So Fast, Tricky McTrickster

I received an email yesterday that seemed very official and legit regarding the transfer of a domain which we manage for a client. To my knowledge, this client had not requested a transfer of their domain from our registrar. That was red flag number one. But sometimes a client will talk to a competing company about taking over hosting/domain management of their site, which is just something that happens in the business world. And sometimes, rather than contact us to let us know what's going on, they will attempt to transfer their domain out of our registrar where we manage it without giving us a heads up, so we can send them the Auth Code and turn off the Domain Protect to allow them to transfer. I guess they don't want to break our hearts, which is commendable, and we sure hate to see them go.

BUT!

More often than not, when we receive an email regarding a domain transfer about which we had no prior knowledge, it's a scam. Take a look at this email I got:


Pretty sneaky, sis.

I Googled the company requesting the Auth Code and got this, via Wikipedia:
"In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with the company for practices such as transferring domain registrations to their service under the guise of domain renewal, a practice known as domain slamming, and having hidden fees."

That was the second, and final red flag.

What these people are counting on is for the person in charge of managing the domain to be confused and assume that, if they don't comply with the instructions listed, they will lose their domain. The sad part is that it often works. All these folks have to do is send an email that looks official, and they trick people into GIVING them their domains.

Are you ready for the pitch now? While I'm all for folks taking an initiative and grabbing this new medium that is the internet by the horns, there are definitely advantages to allowing the professionals to handle some things. We at LogicMaze get calls about emails clients have received that are nearly identical to this a few times a year, and we've been able to stop companies like Domain Registry of America from stealing a few domains. Because we have dealt with this kind of stuff before. We're happy to keep an eye on things for you and make sure these slimy sleazeballs don't try to trick you out of your property.

Of course, if you want to register your domain yourself, just please please PLEASE make sure you do your homework first.